Friday, October 31, 2003

The RNC is asking CBS to review the script of the Reagan miniseries before it airs. If CBS gives in then they are not only gutless, they will prove that fear of economic oppression is the biggest concern for America. When powerful people who can control their shock troops like a surgeon, then lives can be ruined.

Regarding the AP story, " 'Reagans' miniseries upsets conservatives" [Oct. 31]: Why just conservatives? It seems to me that all Americans should be upset with a show that is being built around lies and distortions about a living past president of this great nation. How do CBS and Hollywood think that they can rewrite history? This is just one more example that demonstrates how far to the left the media has gone.

Charles Simon, Maineville

Mr. Simon, I would guess you have not seen the movie. I would guess you are a Reagan fan. I guess you were just as pissed when the movie Primary Colors was released which, although not by name, was about Bill Clinton. I missed your outrage. I missed you calling the media anti-Clinton. I missed the outrage.

Mr. Simon, it is just a freakin' TV show. Get over yourself and your deity Ron Reagan.

UPDATE: After I spend the next 3 hours figuring out how this works I will be able to tell you that I don't like it. It is complicated. It is consensus building, not an election. What find ironic, is that in order to use this election process, we would need to vote on it using the current election method of up or down votes. I would keep the current method or switch to a combination of district representation and at-large council seats. The battle would be in defining the district boundaries.

I am no fan of Keith Fangman, but if we had this type of technology used by every police officer as was used here to clear Fangman, then we might not have such distrust of the police. Here is what I wonder: would this case have been considered racial profiling? Would the woman pulled over for running a red light have believed that she was pulled over for being black? The hidden subtext of the story is just as interesting:

Mitchem got tickets during a 21-minute traffic stop May 31 for running a red light and not having a driver's license. The next day, she filed a written complaint, claiming Fangman was disrespectful, yelled and wouldn't let her explain because he was trying to meet a quota.

Who did she talk to before going in and filing the complaint, the next day? Did she talk to any of the usual suspects (various activists) who upon hearing that it was Fangman pushed her to file the complaint? Will that story ever come out? Once again, I doubt it.

UPDATE: The Post's story is up and has the same facts. Still no one has any facts as to whom, if anyone, Janika Mitchem talked to before she filed her report. She is only 18 years old. It is likely she would have talked about what happened with some older. Who was that? Who did that person talk to? Did anyone connected to the boycott advise making the complaint?

Tapped is on the story of the former FOX News producer Charlie Reina's outing of the "Memo" sent out daily to everyone a FOX News literally giving the talking points for the day's news. It should be jaw dropping to doubters of FOX News's conservative bias to read the kinds of spin they were told to give in their coverage. The defense will be that this did not affect their "reporting," only the other "content" of the show. This could be true, but the "reporting" of which they speak is the 2 minutes ever half hour of headlines, hardly much other than the first paragraph of a newspaper story.

When you read the Reina's comments it is clear that FOX News is pure conservative propaganda. Now, the damaging element to Reina's claims are that he does not produce one of the actual memos and that he is a former employee of FOX. Those facts will be where the FOX faithful will focus their scorn.

Here is the ironic part. Reina was the produce of FOX News Watch, the media critique program. I regularly watch that show and I can sometimes not want to through stuff at the TV while viewing it. I have to wonder; will the out of the memo be covered in their show? They tape it today and air it tomorrow, so there is plenty of time to discuss it. Do the have the balls to do that? I doubt it.

UPDATE: FOX News has responded. From this VP at FOX we learn one simple fact: there is a daily memo. She seems to not how it was characterized, but there is one, so this is a guy making that up. Her real purpose was to do use Plan 6, call him a disgruntled employee.

Someone should tell Reagan's flock that this is only a movie. If the Kennedys can take the dozen movies made about them and if Nixon could take the movies made about him, I think showing that Nancy's was difficult is not going to do much. Reagan is not a deity! He is just a man. Where's the anti PC crowd? I hope FOX includes this in their PC watch.

I am building up steam to review CinWeekly. I have a whole lot to say about it, but I likely will not have time today to get it done. One small question for those folks. Why do they refer people on their print cover to cincinnati.com and not their stand-alone URL cinweekly.com? That is a strange choice. In this press release they don't even give the cinweekly.com address. The link on the main page for cincinnati.com is not very prominent. I think this will not establish cinweely.com as much as it could.

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Ok, Peter Bronson's column states that a woman recanted her statement that the person on trial raped her. Did she recant that she was raped at all? Does Bronson care to ask that question? Wasn't this woman threatened by her "friends" as indicated in the column? So she is the real criminal here? Am I missing something? If she was raped, and if she named the wrong person, then isn’t there still a rapist walking the streets? This comment took the cake:

She said she went into the woods to sell sex for $20, then changed her mind and was raped.

Peter, why not just come out and say "she was asking for it?" If this man did not do it, then I am glad he was found innocent. If this woman was raped, then where does the investigation stand or does her mistakes, allegedly made out of fear, mean that another criminal will walk the streets without facing trial?

18 of 26 council candidates support the repeal of Article XII (allows gay discrimination). It appears that candidate Sam Malone wants a uniform majority rules morality:

"It's mighty funny how some folks communicate their religious conviction, and yet compromise on the issue. I have a problem with that," Malone said. "I think we're talking about morality. We're talking about family values. The community has a right to say what the morality of the community shall or shall not be."

Sam, so when does the individual get to be who they are? Why do I have to live by your oppressive religion's standards? What is immoral about not discriminating against someone because they are naturally different? I do mean naturally, from birth. Religious dogma has no place in public law. Sam, do you favor making discrimination against women and ethnic/racial/nationality minorities illegal? If yes, then why do they get "special rights?" Sam, I am part of the community you seek to lead. Why is my view less important than your pious dogmatically challenged opinion?

8 of the 9 GOP candidates are against repeal of Article XII. Anti-gay views run rampant in this town, and the Republicans lead the way.

If Greg Korte is auditioning for the role of Woodstein in Gannett's version of "Watergate: The Musical," then I am sure he will get the role if he can hit the high "C". "Follow the Money?" Hal Holbrook would be turning over in his grave, if he were dead that is.

In Greg's column yesterday he brought forward the public facts that 2 CityBeat staff members contributed to Nick Spencer's campaign. In case you want to see this for yourself, all of Nick's contributors are listed on his website.

The implication that one could draw from his column, incorrectly of course, is that CityBeat paid for the Elkington Story.

Dunlap wrote "No Chinese Allowed," the Oct. 1 story that caused quite a flap over Main Street developer John Elkington's alleged bias against Chinese restaurants. The story quoted Spencer and advanced his case that Democratic Councilman John Cranley's plan for Main Street should be jettisoned.

"I can see how people might see a conflict of interest," Dunlap said. "I don't pretend to always be objective. Nobody is."

Dunlap said Spencer tipped her off about Elkington.

That of course did not happen. Was Korte making that implication? I don't know.

The timing of this story implies something itself. Did the Enquirer intentionally run this story just a few days before the debut of its own weekly newspaper designed to compete with CityBeat? Is a perceived innuendo of a quid pro quo by a competitor enough to show an intentional smear? Well, no, there is no evidence of that. I at this point would guess it is just a poorly timed coincidence. I hope the Enquirer does a better job of editing in the future. Appearance matters however, just as Greg's story indicates. Implications can be a bitch, especially when they implicate you.

UPDATE 11:25PM: I sent an email with questions on this story to Greg Korte. Those questions were:

I was wondering why you singled out Nick's Campaign to name campaign donors?

Is it a coincidence that you named two CityBeat staffers the same week that the Enquirer's Cin Weekly, a direct competitor for CityBeat, debuts?

Were you tipped off to these contributors, or did you go looking over all candidate's financial reports for local media contributors?

Greg responds to those questions and my original post as follows:

Mr. Griffin:

In answer to the questions in your e-mail dated 7:46 p.m. today:

I have not singled out donors to Mr. Spencer’s campaign. I could refer you to several stories and columns in which I discussed contributions to political campaign. To wit: “Finance Reports Foreshadow Upcoming City Council Race,” July 8, 2003; “Candidate Contributions Grow,” September 5, 2003; “Lynch Donors Expand,” October 5, 2003; “Lindner Family Leading Contributions,” October 23, 2003; “Candidates Opening Wallets,” October 24, 2003.

Of course the timing with regard to Cin Weekly is coincidence. To suggest otherwise would be to think I have some influence over either campaign finance reporting deadlines (set by the Ohio General Assembly) or the date of the tabloid launch (set by the publisher, who has been planning it for months.) I have not been involved at all in the young reader initiative, and I think it’s a stretch to think that my reporting of campaign contributions by City Beat staffers will have any effect on the competitive situation. Had I been solely interested in attacking City Beat, as your message seems to imply, I would not have reported on a much larger campaign contribution by an officer of the company I work for.

I came across the contribution on Nick Spencer’s campaign finance statement, filed with the Hamilton County Board of Elections last Thursday. The connection was clear as soon as I saw it. I put it in my next column, which was Sunday.

Finally, let me say this: I haven’t always agreed with what City Beat writes, but I do respect the role of an alternative press in a vibrant city. As I told Ms. Dunlap on Friday, my interest was not in starting an ink war (although, regrettably, it may be inevitable). However, given City Beat’s reporting on L’affair Elkington -- a story that soon crossed over into the “mainstream” media — I believed it was important for readers to know all the facts surrounding that story. Beyond that, I encourage you to take the story at face value: Like John McCain in 2000, Nick Spencer is the uncontested “media darling” of the 2003 Cincinnati City Council race.

Korte.

I agree with Mr. Korte that it is a stretch to think the timing of his reporting of the facts involving CityBeat could have been deliberate to coinside with the release of CinWeekly. I also think that is even more preposterous to imply (however subliminally) that CityBeat had some kind of quid pro quo with the Spencer campaign, especially over such a small contribution. I don't want an ink war either, so I hope this can be the end of it, but if Flannery gets wind of this, which I know he will, I am sure something will be said, assuming their deadline has not yet passed. It could be fun for blogging geeks like me however.

Sunday, October 26, 2003

Conservatives hate Clinton for, well, getting a BJ and being coy about it. I hate George Bush for the same reason Michael Kinsley illustrates in his WaPo column. It is personal to me because I have a family member who has Parkinson’s disease. When Bush announced his "plan" for stem cell research while on vacation in the summer of 2001, I screamed at the TV set. I want to smash it, but I was able to keep my temper in check. This bastard was choosing to let people suffer and die all because of religious zealots. Now, I know this does not live up to the standard of getting a BJ, but hey I am only human. Any anger I feel about this issue is nothing compared to those who were lied to about Iraq and have since lost family in a War that could have been avoid, or at least planned out beyond April 9th.

XRay Magazine has identified the online testing copy for the Enquirer's CIN. The site looks like one big advertisement. The new content is not viewable, but you can find every event you could want to know about, assuming they are mainstream enough.

The big media Endorsements are in from the Post and the Enquirer and there are few surprises.

From the Enquirer: 3-3-3 a political party trifecta. I would not have guessed 3 Charterites would get a full Enquirer Endorsement and only 3 Republicans. Only 5 incumbents were tapped to continue. Chris Monzel got the shaft? He did not even get included as an "honorable mention." This was not officially an honorable mention category, rather a new comer pat of the back saying "try again next time around, we liked what we saw." Nick Spencer could be considered the number 10 pick, but I think their impression is that he is a front runner for 2003. I was surprised that Alica Reece got endorsed. The Enquirer pushed the Convergys deal fairly strongly, enough to hold a column, and Reece voted against it. It was a meaningless vote, but they looked past the grandstanding. That seems odd. The oddest of all is why the word "abortion" has to be used in endorsements for City Council:

That happened during the past year when the administration failed to act to eliminate abortion payments from city health benefits, and when in negotiations with the police union it gave up on the issue of allowing the city manager to appoint assistant police chiefs.

Monzel pushed that issue to appeal to "Westside" voters. Why does the Enquirer bring it up now? Hmmmm....

From the Post: Everyone is back but Cole? Charter gets a big boost with 3 out of 4 getting the nod. 3 years between DeWine(35) and Reece(32) and one is young and the other is not? The big difference with the Enquirer is the attachment to the incumbents. I guess change is not good to the Post.

Saturday, October 25, 2003

Well, there will be a stand-alone website for CinWeekly, the Enquirer's new YP orientated publication. The Launch Date is October 29th, but if you go to www.cinweekly.com right now you will see their promotional graphic with their PR slogan "For a good time" written on a bathroom wall next to an empty roll of toilet paper. I would guess the subliminal message is that when you run out of toilet paper, CinWeekly will at that point come in very handy.

What is just as hilarious is a report from XRay Magazine of the plight of the one of CinWeekly distribution boxes in Norwood. The picture with the article is most telling, and was not faked. I am looking forward to reading CinWeekly. The PR campaign so far is very WEBNish, as a reader pointed out to me, so it is not original, however for the Enquirer it is ballsy. If they are push the edge of social taboos, or at least refrain from being over sensitive to the handful of prudish people under 35, then I will be mildly surprised. I might even be a little impressed, but I don't want to get ahead of things quite yet.

Friday, October 24, 2003

In the final leg of the campaign for City Council, the Hamilton County GOP has gone on the offensive. They have put out a TV commercial lambasting David Pepper, David Crowely, and John Cranley for voting to loan Lashawn Pettus-Brown money to redevelop the Empire Theater. It is a classic attack ad with newspaper clippings and candidates portrayed like dancing theater ushers. It works. It will hurt these democratic candidates. I was not surprised to see Alicia Reece or Laketa Cole included with the 3 male Dems. Anything that could be seen as remotely referencing race could backfire on the GOP, so you will likely not see GOP sponsored Reece or Cole attack ads.

The story got some play on both WCPO and WLW early. I found it interesting to read this fact in the WLW story:

In June of 2002, seven council members approved $220,000 in loans and grants to LeShawn Pettus-Brown to rehab the 88 year old Over the Rhine landmark.

Did it mean anything to the story to state how many council members voted for the loan? There are two problems with this bit of information. One is that it implies a party split: Only 2 of the 9 council members are Republicans. Now, the average person would likely not know the breakdown of council by party on that day or any day. So I will let that go. The real problem is that 7 people did not vote to loan money to Pettus-Brown in June of 2002, according to the council minutes from June 5, 2002. Jim Tarbell was excused from that meeting, so it was 6-2 in favor. I am nit picking a bit, but I would hope journalists might get that kind of thing correct. I would bet their error was in not checking the press release they got from the GOP or Pat DeWine, which ever source pushed the story.

CityBeat debuted their redesigned website this week. I have to say I am not a big fan so far. When I open up the site I don't see the current issue's content, I instead see their listings. That is a selling point I am sure they are trying to promote, but it looks nothing like a periodical, and more like a web portal.

A positive headline on a farily positive story about attending Miami University in the Enquirer! I thought it was a stipulation of earning a degree from the Ohio University School of Journalism that each reporter must speak ill of Miami, except when they play "The" Ohio state University in sports.

CincyNation, a quasi-log, is thinking about going from the web to the print world:

Cincinnati Nation is considering publishing a mini-daily newspaper that would be distributed free to workers heading home from the office. "It would be a four-page news sheet with all the day's news that affects Cincinnatians," said Richard Hines, who is no stranger to starting papers here. "People will no longer have to read day-old news in the Enquirer." He said a decision will be made later in the year, with a debut targeted for Spring 2004. Hines co-founded several weekly papers on the west side and two downtown papers including the Downtowner.

For a website that spews some of the most anti-Cincinnati rhetoric, it seems like a tall order to produce a print publication that will make money. What I want to know, how does he plan on distributing a paper in the afternoon with information that is any more up to day than the Cincinnati Post?

Thursday, October 23, 2003

The columnist Laura Pulfer is leaving the Enquirer. I am not sure if she is retiring or just moving on. I enjoyed her columns. She stayed with the human-interest side mostly, not an area I always jumped on, but she was a warm writer.

"Because we don't have a strong ethnic community, we get trapped into thinking the vote is our salvation. The real battle now is on the economic front. I understand the argument for voting. I just think what is important is economic parity."

- Damon Lynch III, now a candidate for Cincinnati City Council, in a Cincinnati Enquirer interview published June 2, 2001.

The Enquirer has been getting a little heat, a lot of it from me, for their Lynch coverage so far this year. I think Lynch has been attacked with a feather. Bringing out this quote does not address the questions I think Lynch should be answering, but it shows an example of what Lynch has to contend with, the words of his past. I would guess that Korte has not had much luck in getting Lynch to talk about his past statements on the boycott or on the letter he sent calling Police rapists and murders. It is almost as if Damon Lynch has pulled a page from the script of the Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor campaign. I hope it does not turn out to be a winning strategy.

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

When last we left our fearless Anti-Chinese bigot, he was back peddling like a Miata stuck in reverse. The Mayor had cut him loose and Elkington's wing man, John Cranley, had turned tail and run, seeking shelter behind his master’s gavel.

Elkington is back! He is determined to make his dream of cookie cutter if you build it they will come entertainment destinations in the Main Street district. We have plans for a Paulaner brewery and a Bootsy Collins nightclub in the works that were reported previously as types of places that could appear. We don't know where on Main Street such places could go. I don't know why this plan was not presented upfront, without the call for paying Elkington 100K. You might have thought that would have been simpler.

If Elkington can get his businesses to open, then I will visit them. I just do not want a dime of city money to go to someone with bigoted beliefs. I just wish the city would do that more often. The gave Damon Lynch money for picking up garbage and his bigotry is a matter of record.

Editor's Note: Nate you might want to stop copying here. If you happen to copy this part of my work people will know that you are taking my work without permission and without even adhering to the “fair use doctrine.” In case others are wondering what I am talking about, just read this site and see the many examples of Nate Livingston copying my posts (as well as other local bloggers) and pretending that I posted them to his message board. I have asked Nate to stop, but so far he has just increased his illegal use of my work. I don’t want to have to inform places like Media Bridges that he might be using their computers to break copyright laws. They may not like that.

UPDATE: Nate actually thinks he can pretend to be me and use the "N" word? I am surpised Nate has the time to rewrite so many posts on his website. Defamation of character is a dangerous thing to play with. I guess Boycott B likes to play.

In a profile from the Post, Damon Lynch admits what I consider to be the obvious, he will not be representing the entire city on council:

"Nobody is leaving our city because we don't have a vibrant downtown," Lynch said. "They're leaving because we have dying neighborhoods and underperforming schools -- . So, I don't say I want to represent everybody. I will benefit everybody, but I will represent the pockets of poverty no one wants to talk about."

Now the “progressives” will say Good! The poor needs someone to champion their cause. I have no problem with council members wanting to help out the disadvantaged in the city. The problem here is that Lynch admits that he does not give a damn about anyone who is not black or not "poor," although I think poor whites will not be high on his list of people to help. I think he see the "majority" community (read white which is ill defined) as the problem. Lynch is walking a bizarre populist road. He is very socially conservative personally, but he adopts the rhetoric of a far leftist. He is playing racial politics with a muted militancy subtly lined in his grassroots organization.

I would guess by now it is rather obvious that I am not voting for Lynch. I really am disappointed in the big media's fear of aggressively asking him questions for the record, or at least printing/airing those questions and responses. Lynch has grassroots power in the black community. The local media is regularly dogged in the black community and considered "racist" by people who I would expect know better (Yes, I mean Jay Love). I don't believe the most of the local media will come out swinging against Damon Lynch out of fear of being labeled racist. If he gets on council they might try to dip their feet in with a little criticism, since the office gives a little political cover for criticism.

We need a fearless press, but we instead have a gutless one. The newspapers are going to be getting even more gutless as they abandon city hard news coverage for human interests in the burbs. Gotta love big media. (Cough, Cough)

The conservative bloggers are all up in arms at the "harsh" interview of FOX News Personality Bill O'Reilly by NPR's Terry Gross. The NPR ombudsman even sided with O'Reilly that Gross's interview of him on October 9th was not a shinning journalist moment:

By the time the interview was about halfway through, it felt as though Terry Gross was indeed "carrying Al Franken's water," as some listeners say. It was not about O'Reilly's ideas, or his attitudes or even about his book. It was about O'Reilly as political media phenomenon. That's a legitimate subject for discussion, but in this case, it was an interview that was, in the end, unfair to O'Reilly.

So basically what is the chief complaint of the ombudsman? Gross pulled on O'Reilly. He faulted her for doing to him what O'Reilly does to most of his guests on his FOX News program.

"How thin-skinned can this guy be?" asked Gross. "He's known as a tough interviewer. He's known for being very opinionated. I find it hard for me to imagine he was so mortally offended that his sensitivities could no longer stand to hear my questions."

O'Reilly's response is Denial (with a capital "D")

The thickness of his skin had nothing to do with O'Reilly's reaction. "I don't do interviews like that, I back up my stuff with facts," he said. "I don't carry anybody's water. I don't try to embarrass people on the air. I ask tough questions and people are held accountable for their answers. But we're fair."

Where does Bill get his "facts"? Answer: From someone else, his staff. Where did Gross get her facts? From someone else, Al Franken's book. Bill can't take the facts that show he lies.

O'Reilly is such a wuss. I sound like a schoolyard kid by saying that, but there is no other way to illustrate it. He acts like a little girl whenever anyone questions him. He is a textbook bully. He can't take what he dishes out. He really can't interview anyone unless he has a plan of attack all scripted out for him before hand. He is mean and nasty to people all the time on his program, yet he cannot take a little gruff from NPR? Bill, those who live by the sword, die by the sword. Of all people, he should know that. I guess we have a new poster boy in the media for those who don't practice what they preach.

It appears some of the Teenage Thugs on Short Vine have been arrested. These are the kids who where allegedly spouting racial insults at people for no apparent reason. The Enquirer actually reported in an editorial that the racial insults were anti-white. This fact was not listed in the original news story. I am in favor of hate crimes laws, where the motivation of the crime is taken into consideration in sentencing. What must happen is that these laws must be applied equally. Black on white hate is not excusable, no matter what some of the callers on WDBZ may say. What hasn't City Council members who voted for the hate crimes ordinance called for it to be invoked? Is the problem Mike Allen's office refusing to apply a law he disagrees with?

Without even considering the future ramifications, the Florida House has voted to give Governor Jeb Bush the power to restore the feeding tube to a comatose woman. The Florida Senate is expected to follow with approval later on today. This woman has been comatose for 13 years, but her parents want to carry on, while the husband has gotten a court order to allow him to let her die. This is a sad case, but why are the Florida politicians jumping into this case without thinking about what they are doing? What is next? Will Jeb Bush have power to keep me on a respirator if I am brain-dead after a car wreck? Will Jeb Bush have power to prevent any abortion? Or prevent the use of contraceptives? They are reacting to the Anti-abortion lobby who have seized on this case and are making it into a battle by marching their jack booted foot soldiers headlong into it.

You know Jeb Bush is playing politics when you read this:

"This is a response to a tragic situation." Bush said. "People are responding to cries for help and I think it's legitimate."

Schiavo has been at the center of a court battle between her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and her husband, Michael Schiavo. The parents want Terri Schiavo to live, and her husband says she would rather die.

The Florida Supreme Court has twice refused to hear the case, and it also has been rejected for review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, a Florida appeals court again refused to block removal of the tube.

If someone were to ask Jeb Bush for a law to prevent Johnny's lemonade stand from being driven out of business by the new Starbuck's juice bar, I guess Bush would be getting his oil can out to fix the squeaky wheel.

A big wow goes out to Sarah at the Hedgemo for this list of I love 80's for Cincinnati. I came to the area in 1990, and that was Oxford, so I only actually lived in Cincinnati starting in 1994. This would make a great TV special for one of the local TV stations to pick up. It would be fluff, but fun fluff that someone my age might actually find entertaining.

Monday, October 20, 2003

Rob Bernard is quoting from Jonah Goldberg about the reasons for going to War in Iraq. There are some "valid" reasons to have gone to War. If we are going to apply any of those reasons on other countries is yet to be determined and so far not lived up to in the case of Liberia where we dipped out toes in the water, and got of Dodge in hurry.

The problem is that without the WMD, the element of a threat vanishes. No WMD, no threat (whether you want to quibble on immediate, impending, or imminent). Why did we have to go to war in March? Was our intelligence that bad that we actually thought Iraq could strike with WMD first? Yes, this was a big fear of everyone, including the luke-warm war supporters (those mostly Dems in Congress authorizing war), but that was based on the assumption that Bush was holding back evidence (for security reasons) and that we should trust him when he and his many underlings said Iraq had those weapons.

Now, of course we could now go how Bush and company have changed talking points and no longer say WMD, they say WMD programs. That, I think everyone agrees is a case of revisionism, which now is spin, but back then was misleading.

If there were no known WMD stockpiles or no actual WMD ready to fire at anyone, then why attack Iraq in March? Why not wait until the 1st ID was in place? Why not appear to be destined for war and instead give Saddam’s generals the summer to take him out. We seem to have been successful in doing that once the war started. We instead could have built credibility with the world and gotten UN approval for the war based on Iraq's refusal to comply with the UN.

We still would have lost credibility because there were no WMD to be found in the numbers stated (or likely at all), but if we had the UN mandate, Bush would have had the cover, could have fought the War starting this November, and could have had foreign troops taking over as peace keepers by next April, just in time for Bush to ride into the height of the primary season. Instead, we get hurry up and fight, damn the post-war, and fuck what anyone else thinks about it. That is standard MO for this President and his team. That is where the criticism of him lies on firm ground. I have yet to hear anyone substantially retort my complaints on the hasty timing of the War. I don't think there is a valid reason for the timing. Valid in at least a semi-objective manner that is. If it was for politics or for misjudgment we must judge that this president can’t be trusted to the tell the whole story to the American people when he wants to take us to war. That is the most critical duty of a President and he failed. He not only failed, but he in my opinion knows he failed and does not feel an once of shame for it. People wonder why he is hated? He is hated for character, like Clinton was, but when that chacater affects everyone, then it matters. If Bush was lucky he could have done this and actually won next year with a Regean percentage of the vote. Instead he will not win by much if he does. He might win a clean number of electoral votes, but the county is as divided now, as I have ever known it to be. I would bet those much older would agree that were more divided now than in 1968. Will 2004 be as bloody and violent as 1968? I fear it may.

Is the Enquirer going soft on Damon Lynch? In this Greg Korte article we are led to believe there are two Damon Lynch's. One is an activist, one is a slick politician. Is there really a difference? Both claim to be "honest," but neither lives up to it.

I was looking for the big questions to be asked and answered. If elected will Lynch end his support for the boycott? If he will not, then how can anyone believe he is representing the entire city? Why do the revised Boycott A demands call for an "Afro-centric" curriculum to be established in city schools? How could that curriculum not be considered racist? What evidence does he have that there are "rapists" on the CPD? If he has no evidence, will he apologize for his letter claiming such?

How does a person who is supported by racists, plan on dealing with people of all races? How does a person who blames another race for the problems of his race expect to "bring the races together?"

These questions may have been asked, but they will not get any answers. Lynch is a politician with a blinded following who think he is the answer for an unnamed question.

A local school got a visit from a soldier back from Iraq. This paragraph from the story sounds like someone got some talking points:

Grace said he wanted to talk to the children to let them know that good things - and some very normal things - are happening in Iraq. For example, medics from the base immunized Iraqi children. Others played soccer with them.

I understand that you don't want to horrify kids with the horrors of war, but on same token the article makes it appears that this was playing right into the PR message the White House is trying to get out.

Now, before anyone gets in a snit about this, either way, let me point out that I doubt there was any involvement of the White House in this event. I would bet that the soldier involved and the reporter are aware of the debate on the state of the War and I wonder about their personal motivations.

Kevin Drum of Calpundit fame, one of the best bloggers in the land, will be visiting our fair city of Cincinnati. Kevin is here on business, that is, non-blogging business. If you happen to run into him while he is here, please be kind. Also, Yesterday was his birthday, so wish him well.

Saturday, October 18, 2003

It seems that some liberals outside of Ohio are none to happy to see Springer think about running for Ohio Governor. I don't think he will, but why exactly is he bad? Ok, I don't mean his political positions, so you conservatives don't bother bringing up that. If "Arnold" can get a pass on his past from all of the conservatives, and in fact when a "liberal" newspaper brings out the story, conservatives start attacking it. If a man who likes to get freaky with women on movie sets is ok, why isn't a man who puts freaks on TV ok?

Sarah at theHegmo has listed the candidates she likes, is leaning towards, and is considering in the Cincinnati Council Race. I will not be listing my choices. I will list my analysis as the race gets closer, but I guess I want to try and be semi-objective, as objective as a part-time amateur journalist can be.

The Akron Beacon-Journal is reporting that Jerry Springer might consider a 2006 Governor's run in Ohio. This passage in the article is key to understanding the direction of Springer's comments is:

Springer said Thursday at the University of Akron that if he decides to run for governor, he will quit doing the Chicago-based syndicated show, which he called the "silliest show ever."

Jerry needs to quite his show now or at least after this season. Reports were this summer that he signed a 2 year contract. He can't go beyond that. He must quite the show and start campaigning, and try and regain some level of credibility. He could try and get WLWT News broadcasting gig again. They seem to attract politicians, or hopeful ones at least. The Democrats have no one on a state level to challenge the GOP at this point. What will be more interesting is how much of a battle will the GOP nomination be? If there is a blood primary fight, the Dems might have a chance.

I went last night as part of Cincinnati Tomorrow's "After-5 Walks" and I really had a good time. I was very impressed with the event. The food was good, beer was ok, the boats were cool, and the crowd was huge. We saw Changeling, a Celtic duo, and Ricky Skaggs. I am not a huge blue grass fan, but I do enjoy the music and I really enjoyed Skaggs. Changeling was excellent. A husband and wife team using a fiddle and guitar sound bigger than their number. They managed to mix in the "Smoke on the Water" riff from Deep Purple in their final song. It sounds weird to mix with Celtic music, but worked nicely.

I will likely head back down this weekend and check it out in the daylight. For full coverage of Tall Stacks in the media, the Enquirer has the full load.

The German Ambassador was in town and WLW, Peter Bronson, and Steve Chabot did not organize a boycott, or at least a protest of the event? No Freedom Potato salad?

The Ambassador went to Tall Stacks, so I guess the international sanctions declared by both the boycott A and boycott B were ignored by one of the target European governments. I guess they will say they don't care, because he is German, you know, the boycotter’s code word for "Nazi." "White Man" is the boycotter's code word for "racist" in case you wondered.

A 14 year old girl is causing people trouble? Is this girl somehow "Supergirl" with the strength of 10 men? I don't see how any average adult could not detain this girl until police arrive. What is the challenge? I also have to ask, are "hate crime" charges being considered?

People along the Short Vine strip complained for months about unprovoked assaults by teenagers, often followed by racial slurs , that business owners say make people afraid to come here.

I assume she is black, if not, 1230 the Buzz will be ringing with cries for someone's head.

I have to ask a question to this Anderson Township Letter to the Editor writer:

Kerry not fit to be president

As I picked up the Oct. 13 edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer, I read the cover page with interest. Then I turned to page A2, "First Stop" and that's exactly what I did.

But the "First Stop" was the last stop for what stared me in the eye: a picture of a wannabe, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., known as the "unknown soldier." The headline, "Unknown soldier' now makes his voice heard" was right. I just had to respond.

I put this "unknown soldier" in the same category with Hanoi Jane Fonda, and find them both useless.

I hope Kerry crawls back in his box and takes it back to Massachusetts, where he belongs. No way could I cast my vote to support for president. Kerry is a legend in his own mind.

Earl D. Corell, Anderson Township

Mr. Corell, did you serve in Vietnam? If you did, then did you see any fighting?

Guess what Mr. Corell, Senator John Kerry served on the Mekong delta in a small gun boat fighting the VC. He earned a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, and three Purple Heart medals. How Many medals have you won?

Where was George Bush? Oh, right, he was protecting the skies from a Mexican invasion. I am not big on military records and they don't change my vote, but when ignornat morons like this letter writer, and the idiots who put the letter in the paper, must be corrected.

I am guessing Mr. Corell is the same man referenced in this Enquirer Article from 1999. Does Mr. Corell think Iraq is another Vietnam? He sure thought Kosovo might be

“They say we have another Vietnam in Kosovo,” Vietnam vet Earl Corell told the 47 people and one dog gathered for the ceremony. “I sure hope the hell not.”

A Hamilton County sheriff's deputy, Earl Corell went to war in Vietnam in 1970. Ten years later, he came up with the idea for Cincinnati's Vietnam memorial and raised funds for the project.

Earl thought of rededicating the monument after U.S. missiles slammed into Kosovo.

“There are so many parallels between Vietnam and Kosovo,” Earl told me as we stood by the memorial before his speech. “We didn't know why we were in Vietnam.

“And nobody has told us why we are in Kosovo. Or how long we are going to be there and what we hope to accomplish.

Hmmm, does he want to extend and revise his remarks or just live with the contradiction? I am assuming his position is that of a Bush/war supporter from his knee jerk anti-Kerry letter. I think I have made a logical conclusion based on the evidence presented.

Conservatives bitch constantly that the media is filled with liberals, which I am fairly sure they think is a bad thing. I want to know, why doesn't anyone bitch about the level of conservatives in the Officer Corps of the U.S. military? If you read about the general in charge of the fight against terrorism, Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin's, comments you might be concerned that we are closer to a Bush lead theocracy than even I thought. Atrios has the details.

It seems that ignorance ruled the day. The local police were looking for headlines and failed to see the whole picture. The Judge in this case, Thomas Crush, belittled the contention that terrorism was involved:

But during the Tuesday hearing, Crush said: "The money was not sent to terrorist organizations. There is no jihad here."

He said some of the men are Muslim, some Christian and some Hindu. Four of the men, the judge said, sent money to family members in Kuwait, Bulgaria, Jordan and Hungary.

It sounds like the local police are taking a page from Bush's playbook. If you can't account for where the money went, that must mean it went to terrorists. Money, WMD, it is all just a faith based assumption.

From the start of this mini-controversy this seems like something screwed up. A man is trying to help pull the fire fighters together, and the chief shoots him down. I think the bottom line problem with the Fire Fighters is that the black fire fighters don't want to join the union unless they get blacks in positions of leadership(power). What issues does the union have that would require representation of every race? Are women represented in the union? Are Asians? Are Latinos? Are Russians? Is Mt. Lookout represented? Are cats represented? It would appear that a whole bunch of asses are getting representation.

Did Saturday Night Live find its balls again? Tina Fey, Weekend Update and head writer, took some big stabs at the actions of the Lawyer for Kobe Bryant. It was sharp, to the point, and a clean cut. (And Scene)

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Reps. Steve Chabot of Cincinnati and Rob Portman of Terrace Park, along with Sens. Pat DeWine and George Voinovich, all Republicans, say in the letter they were unaware of the proposed change until reading of it in the Enquirer Oct. 4.

Of course Mike DeWine is the current Senator from Ohio, who is Pat's father. I hope Pat got a good laugh from that one on his dad.

In their latest poll FOX News is trumpeting that 92% of Americans believe in "God." Now, why this is something for a news group to poll I do not really know, but FOX does cater to religious right. The bias in this article starts with the following:

Fully 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God, 85 percent in heaven and 82 percent in miracles, according to the latest FOX News poll.

That was from the first paragraph in the article. That says that based on the poll 276 million out of 300 million or so people in America believe in "God." Now, I will try to forgo the problem of lumping "God" as a singular and monolithic title to something that has such widespread variations in definition and belief. Asking if people believe in "witches" is by itself insulting to those who practice Wicca, but I “digress.” (But not really)

The real meat comes later in the intro to the specific polling data results:

Polling was conducted by telephone September 23-24, 2003 in the evenings. The sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. Results are of registered voters, unless otherwise noted. NA = national adult

Please note the part that I made bold. This poll was of only registered voters. This poll does not mean that 92% of Americans believe in "God", it should have read 92% of Registered Voters. So the leading poll question, one that does not define what they mean by "God," is limited to a subsection of the populace, but is passed off as the results for the entire population.

Polling registered voters is fine, when polling on political issues affecting elections. They are only ones who can vote, so the results are valid. This poll, even beyond the leading "concepts" of "God, Heaven, Hell, and the Devil", is flawed and misleading. I wonder if showing as high a possible percentage of people "believing" in "God" provides support to those who want state religion by popular vote. Well, I don't need to wonder, because I can see no other logical rationale for spinning this story that way, beyond incompetence of course.

Monday, October 13, 2003

Peter Bronson's column from Sunday seemed a little forced. I think he was going for a Midwestern Martha Stewart style word picture. I expected him to share his burch beer recipes or maybe his plan for a great pattern for a new wool blanket to warm him and someone special while they root for the home team....ah...good times. (Cough, Cough)

Peter Bronson's column from Saturday asking why there are not more bland television shows for people like him out there is exactly why this city lives in the past, and fails to develop a vibrant downtown.

What Peter just does not get is that there are people who live a life not wanting what he wants: the Leave It To Beaver life. People don't want to be bored. Peter wants to be bored. The people who think like Peter are too scared not to be bored. If they are exited about something new, they must be "sinning."

Now, when I say new, I don't mean a new book detailing the history of the bible from the point of view of a modern Jesus Freak that likes rap music. I mean new as is inventive and crisp ideas that are not just derivative of an old story that has passed the morality judges living in the burbs.

The problem here is Peter's jealousy. He claims there are not enough "family" shows on television. He is wrong. There are tons of networks shows that the "family" can watch (meaning kids and prudish adults). There are dozens of cable channels fitting that market as well. Peter is pissed that his shows are not as popular as the ones that break new ground, or from his point of view that swear and show bare asses. I would guess that Peter thinks the West Wing is just the work of the devil and that Trading Spaces is just vanity run amuck. I think Peter needs to stop being afraid of breaking the taboos that are no longer taboos. Skirts to the ankle and not wearing hats indoors are just not things that matter in life. Being offended by swear words is nothing but Political Correctness, the original kind. If those words offend you Peter, just don't listen. Don't be such a PC prude.

Saturday, October 11, 2003

It appears that someone wanted to go home and get to bed early last Monday Night.
In the not so clear picture above it reads:

Tampa Bay's Keenan McCardell catches a touchdown pass during Monday's game against the Colts. The Bucs rolled to a 35-14 and then held off a Colts rally.Now there are two problems here. First the last sentence is missing a word, "to a 35-14 and then...." Maybe it should have been: "to a score of 35-14 and then...."

The second and, well, far bigger problem was that the final score of the game was 38-35 Colts. The last time the score was 35-14 was at about 3:40 to go in the fourth quarter. Now this kind of thing happens all the time, and the Sports Section is the least important in the paper, but this was on the front page. I would have thought they could have stopped the presses a few minutes after they sent it to the printers, but I don't know how the process works on that detailed of a level. I hope this kind of thing never happens with hard news.

Friday, October 10, 2003

If Cincinnati is not Hip, we are at least trendy. For the second time in a week a national newspaper has done a story on Young Professionals and they have focused on Cincinnati. The attention is great. We had another great time at CincyTommorrow's After-5 Walk last night.

This article, like the CSM article, has a drive by view of Cincinnati, but it is not that far off. We have let the rest of the country define us mainly because a majority of the region is stuck living in a 1980's frame of mind.

But activist Brian Crum Garry, an independent candidate, took issue with the emphasis on crime in the campaign. "Crime is not the No. 1 problem in Cincinnati. Race and class are the No. 1 problem in Cincinnati," he said.

Why he did not just come out and attack the capitalists and call for a proletariat strike is beyond me. I am sure Mr. Crum could be an old school socialist or a full-blown Stalinist, but those distinctions are only a matter of an "if it walks like a duck" difference.

Also from this article, since when is Monica R. Williams of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati a "boycott leader?" Last I knew she was not even one of the "co-chairs" of the CJC? She was wrong about Deter's comments. Deter's come across as harsh, but they are a fact. The image of intercity under 30 year old blacks is the same one portrayed in the media as "gang culture." Deter's saying this comes across to many as bigoted and racist, but it is still true. Now, why it is true is an issue that is far more debatable and where I am sure Mr. Deter's might spew some rather ignorant opinions if he were to be off the record. I am surprised the CJC and its racist cabal have not disrupted more forum events. Since many of them have been in “those” neighborhoods, I guess the CJC is scared to venture in to them. When I say “those” of course I mean Westwood, Price Hill, Mt. Washington, Hyde Park, and Mt. Lookout. The CJC’s super powers are not effective in places like that, so they stay as far away as possible. They don’t want to actually meet real white people. If they were to meet real white people, they might realize we are not the “devil.” That would just blow their whole “the man is keeping us down” motif.

The report of a harsh physical arrest in OTR is not good. It is not good because people are still tense in OTR and are looking at every police action with assumptions. Damon Lynch is already commenting. The quote on WPCO's website is rather meaningless. What is he going to do about it? What would he do about it if he were on council?

OVER-THE-RHINE - Cincinnati police officers checking out a report early Thursday about a person with a gun in a bar ended up finding two loaded handguns and a bullet-proof vest.

Officers heading to Martin's Bar just before 2:30 a.m. saw a man running outside and chased him. They arrested Germaine Evans, 22, of Over-the-Rhine, and Reco Terrell, 29, of Pleasant Ridge. Both were charged with carrying concealed weapons and having weapons under disability, meaning they have prior felony charges that prohibit them from carrying a gun.

Officers found a loaded .45-caliber semiautomatic and a loaded .40-caliber handgun in a car. They also found the vest, according to Evans' arrest report.

Where was Damon Lynch's praise on this? I wonder why every gun-nut is not pissed these guys were charged with carrying concealed weapons.

UPDATE: The Postreports that there was basically a mini-riot after the arrests. 1230theBuzz callers are heavily calling about this topic. The police chief is set to appear before noon. This after noon's Jay Love show should produce quite a few fireworks.

UPDATE#2:WLWT has a detailed report of the incident from Police. Their version vindicates the police actions. The suspect had a gun and the police hit the man to try to get the gun from him. The Chief of police has come on the Buzz and explained the incident very thoroughly. He will surely be attacked, but this case looks open and shut. The racists and the boycotters (often the same people) will cry foul and claim conspiracy, but it appears almost the entire incident is on videotape.

UPDATE#3: A man on the Buzz is claiming to be a "Reverend" Doc Foster and claims to be the "grandfather" of the man arrested. Interesting, if true.

Kevin Drum, master blogger, at Calpundit.com has a takedown of the Texas Republican platform. This document is actually scary. If people can be a Republican and support these people, I don't know how. Speaking of People, does Bush support his state's Platform? Will he refute the bigotry and theocracy, and fascism advocated in it?

Well, I got a look at the prototype of the Cincinnati Enquirer's new weekly. The title is "Cin." I don't mind the title. There is a nice double entendre that has potential. As for the rest of it, well, it is about what I expected: The Today show in print form, minus Ann Curry and Al Roker. We had "The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly of Shackingup" where I read "real" people discuss living with their significant other. Too bad that one of those people sharing her opinion states that she is married. That seems to defeat the idea of "shackingup," which I think most of society reserves for unmarried couples.

The Cincinnati Style section looks like it was a satirical look at People Magazine, but the problem was that is wasn't trying to be satirical. Most of what I saw was fluff. Where to eat, what to wear, where to go, and who to be. It was a how-to-live newspaper for the intellectually deficient. If you need to be told what is "cool," or if you care what "cool" means in an "American Pie" kind of way, then this will be your bible for life in Cincinnati. If you like originality or fresh ideas, then this will appear to be a pile of rotting filet mignon .

For the "mainstream" Cincinnati 27 year old women ( or man) who watches the bachelor and thinks she could get picked, this is her newspaper. For the person who listens to NPR, reads something without pictures, and knows the difference between reality TV and reality, I suggest sticking to XRay Magazine or CityBeat.

UPDATE: I also have no idea if this publication will have its own website or even a special section at Cincinnati.com. I bet it will have something on the web eventually. If not, then the Enquirer really has no clue about 25-34 year olds. On the cover the cinncinnati.com was listed, so I would guess there will be a special section (tab) for "Cin."

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

The police are stumbling all over themselves trying to back off their "great suspicion" that the corner market crime ring was linked to "terrorism." None of the local powers that be will come right out and eat crow:

Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen said the investigation is continuing, but there is so far no connection to terrorism. "If there are financial links to terrorists, they have not been established," Allen said.

I love the firm manner in which Mike committed to his answer: I know Noth-ing.

What was the headline writer (editor?) thinking when they wrote the headline - subheader combination of "Man free in theft ring case: Terror tie uncertain?" This combination leads one to believe that because the terror ties were "uncertain", he was set free. It creates the impression that the terrorism was the only charge. The man is free on bail, not freed because has been tried yet. The evidence against the crime ring I would bet is very damaging. Ken Lawson is of course involved. I have to ask the obvious. Is he trying to make a victim out of his client(s) from the "racist" police that assumed a terrorism connection. This faux victim hood is his plan for acquittal. Ken is going for a modified Chewbacca defense. Draw attention away from the facts of the case and zero in on the peacock strutting of the Police Chief and Prosecutor. Morons are easy dupes for a fake left, and we have plenty of morons here in Hamilton County.

CityBeat had a story last week where Mr. Elkington reported made a few bigoted comments at an OTR luncheon:

Elkington and his boosters make much of his commitment to diversity -- African Americans own 35 percent of Beale Street businesses, according to Cranley. But at a recent Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Elkington told the crowd that years in development have taught him to never rent to a Chinese restaurant.

"If it's an inside joke to developers, we didn't get it," Charter Committee city council candidate John Schlagetter says.

Elkington says the comment was meant as a joke, but it's true that he doesn't rent to Chinese restaurants.

"I just made that a policy," he says. "Chinese businessmen are hagglers. They use different math."

That is just totally outlandish and outright racist. I wonder when he says "Chinese" if he means those from China or is he vastly ignorant and mean all Asians?

You know things hit the fan when the Cincinnati Enquirer actually refer to a CityBeat Article anywhere in there paper, let alone in an editorial:

Mayor Charlie Luken and Councilman John Cranley want to hire Elkington for $100,000 to make bigger things happen on OTR's Main Street. But we can't get there by offending more ethnic groups. Luken says he's been flooded with e-mails, and will talk to Elkington again. OTR offers opportunities for all private investors. The city needs to make 100 percent sure Chinese-Americans are as welcome as any.

The Enquirer does report that Elkington denies the CityBeat Quote were he calls Chinese businessmen "hagglers." Come on John, everyone knows Jews are the "hagglers", the Chinese are good at math, the Scotsmen are cheap as hell and won't invest a dime in OTR, and the Irish will drink anywhere you open a bar.

Oh, and yes....(Cough, Cough) on the last part, for all those keeping score.

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

The Christian Science Monitor has taken a hard look at Cincinnati and our Young Professionals. I don't like being called "unhip" because that is a really bad rap on Cincinnati, but one we can't easily avoid. We are a "cool" city surrounded by some of the most stale minded people in the country. The majority of suburbanites want to live in a stoic life with the PTA, youth soccer, high school football, church festivals, and tolerance for theocratic fascists like Phil Burress.

The city needs to start looking out for itself more. The county does nothing to help. The suburbs sponge off the big city aura, but stay locked in their sheltered cul-de-sacs. Groups like Cincinnati Tomorrow, featured in the article, are in my opinion (biased as it may be) are the foundation for a vibrant city society. Social structures are what societies are built on and by combining our efforts our market share will become more attractive to business and then to government officials.

Nick Spencer got a great mention. I seemed to not seek John Cranley's name mentioned. I wonder where he stands on young professionals? I would guess he would want us standing outside a Hard Rock Cafe behind the velvet ropes, waiting for the West Chester crowd to go home.

Monday, October 06, 2003

I am watching WLWT-NBC at 11:00 PM today and I saw a report during the first ten minutes on the California Governor's recall election. In case you missed something, WLWT is the NBC affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio. That was OHIO.

Ohio does not border California. When the governor of Indiana died, that was very relevant to Cincinnati area views, which includes parts of Indiana. Stories on Kentucky government are also fair game. If might be nice if we got a story on what Bob Taft was doing up in Columbus (again the one in Ohio).

Now, I seem to remember something about an election right here in Cincinnati. 26 people are running for something? Instead we get an "Around the Nation" report and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" update. What the Fuck? Where is the local news? Damn it folks, a "Tall Stacks" commercialnews story giving the menu? I guess interviewing the candidates for next month's election is just not interesting enough for the brain dead "Reality" Show junkies hoping they finally merge the Bachelor, Fear Factor, and Dirtyhotelmaids.com into one television program. Watching a single guy tempt fate by picking a wife from a group of dirty hotel maids that eat sheep balls for money is a formidable match for picking the city's leaders.

Sunday, October 05, 2003

With groups like Voice of the Faithful, is a Roman Catholic split far way? American Catholics have a large segment pushing for change in the church much like Martin Luther did nearly 500 years ago. Couple this along with radical traditionalist Catholic, like Mel Gibson, who prefer to turn back the clock and be "pre-Vatican II" Catholics. Orthodox Catholics, who might also be called conservative Catholics, fall in as the "establishment" Catholics who like the Church as is. I don't know where moderate or liberal Catholics will go if the church does not change. I would predict that the choice of the next Pope will be critical for the future of American Catholics. I would not be surprised to see a break-up/schism or massive defection to other protestant sects for American Catholics. I of course don't really give much of a damn about this or any religion, but the Catholic Church does wield influence in the world, and it is the biggest Christian denomination in America.

Rob Bernard points out that he did address why we went to war when we did. His answer was:

We attacked when we did because it appeared those opposing our timetable weren't opposing when we were doing it, but that we were doing it at all. Might it have been better if we had waited for a better postwar plan? Sure, but that's 20-20 hindsight talking. There was not a single person, either pro or anti, talking before the war about the postwar plan.

Rob makes part of my case for me. No one was talking about post-war Iraq. Why was that? Well, that is not true, many were asking about the post-war Iraq, those questions came mostly from Democrats, like Joe Biden in this 02/11/2003 NewsHour segment, but also Senator Lugar (R) asked questions that no one in the Bush Administration answered significantly then and still have not done much of it to date.

Lugar's initial comment:

How long might U.S. troops conceivably remain? Will the United Nations have a role? And who will manage Iraq's oil resources? Unless the administration can answer these questions in detail, the anxiety of Arab and European governments, as well as that of many in the American public, over our staying power will only grow.

Biden's initial comment:

The one lesson universally learned from Vietnam is that a foreign policy, no matter how well or poorly articulated, cannot be sustained without the informed consent of the American people. The American people have no notion what we are about to undertake. This is a gigantic undertaking in what the word that we don't like to hear: nation building -- nation building.

Rob's comments still do not pass muster as to why we had to fight then. If they only reason was that France was not going to support us, then I still can’t find what harm would have it caused if we instead waited for more troops to arrive, waited for Turkey to come around and let us stage troops from our bases there, and waited for everyone other than France to come around and support our actions? We might have reduced the number of causalities significantly, especially from the post-war violence. We would have kept Saddam in power for 6 to 8 months longer, but Bush left him in power from his inauguration up through this year without any significant fretting as to the fate of the people being oppressed in Iraq.

Leave it Howard Wilkinson to write about the story beneath the story. Franco Wantsala is wanted as part of the crime ring fronting stolen merchandise at local corner markets. Mr. Wantsala is the staff accountant for the Cincinnati Empowerment Corporation which is the local agency that awards funds to entities in empowerment zones. This “little” connection might give the boycotters something to crow about, assuming they are paying attention and don’t jump to this man’s defense out of knee-jerk reaction.

Wilkinson was able to get a high ranking authority, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, to honestly comment on the crime ring's link to terrorism:

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, whose Organized Crime Investigations Commission launched the probe nearly two years ago, said it was not at all clear that Saleh and his alleged co-conspirators were funneling money to Middle East terrorists.

"There is no hard evidence of that; there is just hard suspicion,'' said Petro. "That's something for the feds to investigate. We were investigating an organized criminal activity."

I wonder who locally was pushing the terrorism connections? The original Enquirer story has this reference to terrorism:

Federal authorities are following up on the $37 million to see if it funded any terrorism, Humphries said. Officials here believe it did, Chief Tom Streicher said, but have no proof.

The Post reported Streicher's direction quote on the link to terrorism:

"We can document that money is being sent to the Middle East," Streicher said, adding there is a "strong suspicion" the money is being used to fund terrorism. He acknowledges, though, "there is nothing concrete -- yet."

This quote is presumably why the Post used this headline for the article, "Theft ring, terrorism linked." Since when does "suspicion" mean a link? AG Petro said there is no hard evidence, so basically these guys are guessing terrorism is involved. If there really was terrorism involved, where are the National news stories on this issue with a press conference from John Ashcroft? Now there is still the report from an ex-wife of one of the accused were she says, "I think they're involved in terrorism, I've always have." Who tipped WCPO off as to location of this ex-wife? They had very little time to get this story since the men were only arrest on Thursday and the story is filed on Friday, complete with a "shaded" video clip. Now, WCOP could have the fastest staff in the world, but I would bet someone in the CPD or Prosecutor’s office let a name slip.

Saturday, October 04, 2003

Rob Bernard quips: "The reason you don't invade Clifton is because UC didn't invade Oxford 12 years ago, lose, and promise to get rid of those plans in order to get Miami to stop shooting." Well Rob, "someone" did steal the "Victory Bell" for several years until it "magically" appeared again. Our intelligence has said, and I am sure Senator Mike DeWine will back me up on this, that it was member of the UC Cabal. The Bell is under threat, and we must crush that threat before something happens. We can't wait until next year's game, we must act now!

That leads me into what Rob did not address. Why couldn't we wait to go to war? Bush's claim was that we were under threat (I say imminent was the Administration talking point until they could not support the claim), and that we could not wait. We could not wait because Iraq was a threat, which as we now know what not true.

The bottom line, the only reason we could not wait to go to war was that Bush knew he could not fight one in an election year, and still get the credit for it without a Wag the Dog charge. We could have gone into battle this Fall with the entire world on our side and with a plan for the post-war. We also would not have had the 87 billion dollar bill to pay, or at least not nearly as big a one.

Why does this matter? Well, I am a person who does not believe the ends justify the means. Do I regret the ends? No, I am glad Saddam is gone. What I refuse to let happen is for George Bush to be praised for his actions and then reelected by an ill-informed and ignorant public. Now I of course have virtually no real influence beyond the small number of people who actually read my work, but I think I am part of a chorus that must sing and show that the President acted poorly, made political choice in the timing of the war, and seems willing to spin his "victory" into some grand battle that illustrates his "brilliance."

Friday, October 03, 2003

Jay Love tried to make this into a civil rights violation during his 1230AM radio show today. He did not like the arrest and/or indictment of 23 people alleged to be involved in a crime ring that fenced stolen goods getting a lot of attention before anyone was convicted. I wonder where Jay's complaints were when the Erpenbeck scandal broke and was front page news for months on both daily newspapers. Erpenbeck got 100 times more attention than this crime ring bust will ever get all before he or anyone implicated went to trial. Why didn't Jay complain about that?

The problem with the news coverage and the headline whoring by Mike Allen and the CPD is that they threw around the "terrorism" charge without any evidence. Money going to the Middle East is not by itself evidence of funding terrorism. Allegations like this WCPO story are more substantial, but it comes from an ex-wife of one of the accused so ulterior motives are something to be considered. Sensationalism is a bedrock of news, but when it could cause a hate crime, then restraint should take precedence.

With apologies to Al Franken I had to mention the Rush Limbaugh tragedy. Ethan Hahn at Queen City Soapbox comments on both of stories concerning Rush. I actually feel sorry for the man at this point. He is either a drug addict or a wrongly accused person. Based on Rush's comments Ethan referenced, Limbaugh sounds like he is hooked on painkillers. If he was not, I think he might have denied being a drug addict, instead of his refusal to talk about the issue.

On the ESPN issue I think Rush's real problem was that he crossed the line that I assumed he was not going to cross when he was hired, the political one. I assume Rush would stick with commenting on sports and not bring political comments into the issue. Topping it off, he makes stupid comments that almost appear to have been more of an automatic machine reaction. He normally just spouts off the usually talking points and Conservative clichés that he just let one slip without thinking about what he saying. The ESPN thing will not hurt his career much. Painkillers could kill his career.

John Koval's column from today'sMiami Student on the reactions and actions of Miami University students and strikers respectively, was a nice and balanced take on the situation. I am sure the students supporting the strike will hate the criticism leveled on their acceptance of being "radical," which I took as basically being Stalinists like the folks at International Answer and the World Workers Party. These "Transnational Progressives" are the bane of us on the left. Their acceptance of Neo-Communism (including the faux anarchists or just old fashioned communism) had fractured the left into a liberal wing and a populist wing, the liberals being the more libertarian while the populists being the unionists and embracing a form of authoritarianism.

The strikers are a sympathetic group, but confrontation with the school in the end will have been a poor choice. The school has nothing to give them.

We invaded Iraq because they we thought they weren't living up to their end of the UN resolutions. These finds, without a single WMD find, prove that they weren't.

What Rob does not answer is why the war could not wait until say, now? Why not wait until we had the whole world on our side and we had a plan for what to after we won? What was the rush??? Oh yea, we were under imminent threat from WMD, that is why couldn't wait. Now of course we know there were no weapons, just plans for weapons. There are "plans" for weapons at UC. Why don't we invade Clifton? Those evil Bearcats are a threat to my Redhawks, damn it!

Am I detecting a pattern with the latest Maggie Downs column? It is a very well written and a nice column, but why is it in the Metro Section? Is this coffee shop going to advertise with the Enquirer or the new Weekly? When is the weekly supposed to come out? It was slated for Fall and it is now Fall. Is Maggie the poster gal for the Real Life, Real News program? This is real life, but is it news? This column would make a very entertaining piece if it ran with video and was played during the 5 PM "news" hour on any of the Local TV stations. Is Maggie the manifestation of what Gannett wants to make its newspapers into? The print version of the Today Show?

I like Maggie's writing, and she is a really great person as well, but I wish she would write more about what is going on, not on what people could do in their spare time.

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Greg Korte has a good take on young voters. This part is a bit self serving, but still very very true:

Notwithstanding the Internet, television remains the primary source for news for young people. And television does a poor job covering local campaigns - especially one in which 26 Cincinnati City Council candidates are competing for attention.

Radio does a little better than TV in covering local politics here in Cincinnati, but the internet I think does a great job. And yes, that was very self-aggrandizing.

Jim Romenesko's Media Memos has a lengthly memo purportedly from Enquirer Editor Tom Callinan about a new program hitting Gannett newspapers and how it specifically affects the Enquirer. This plan, "Real Life, Real News" amounts to basically human interest market driven news. What we are going to get now is giving readers what they want, or say they want. We therefore can expect to get less of hard news. The marketing study part of this program indicates a gender and age gap. It seems that all that means to the Enquirer Management is that we (the readers) want to make the Metro section in a Tempo part deux. This except sums up what they are going to do to change their age gap:

Real Life source: As we developed a product aimed at 25-34s, we created an e-mail list of several groups of young professionals and creatives and invited them for several get-acquainted discussions over the summer. The discussions reinforced much of what we have talked about - they are interested in local news about neighborhoods and things unique to Cincinnati, places to go and things to do, goods things happening in the community, news from their neighborhoods, restaurants, local music, travel ,careers, health and fitness, arts and culture. They want to see and hear from their own generation, not what they see as our out-of-touch critics. And, they talked about looking forward, not to the past (complaints about the "riots" obsession…and, Pete Rose - many of them were born after the Big Red Machine days).

We are now going to get Dateline NBC and People Magazine in the pages of the Enquirer. If we young professionals care about what our politicians are doing I guess we are just shit out of luck. Charlie Luken, Simon Leis, and Phil Burress can do what ever the hell they want, but since the Enquirer seems to think "we" want to burry our heads in the sand, I guess we get the same crap you can watch on every Local TV station, FLUFF. Callinan tried to say this was not fluff, but it is. It is human interest gone amuck.

A second negative appears to be an abandonment of the City of Cincinnati. The suburbs will now be the focus of the paper. Every example from the memo dealt with suburban issues. The Enquirer seems to be following the ways of WLW.

The only positive thing from this memo is the realization of the importance of the internet and an increase in special content for the internet. What that exactly entails was not detailed. The Enquirer has recently increased the number of times a day they are updating the front page of their website with news stories. This is a positive step. It would be nice to do this on the weekends too, but they would need to hire some new to do it, or just break down and hire me to do a blog (cough, cough).

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

Talk about generous, according to an inside source Cincinnati Tomorrow fed Nate Livingston and Amanda Mayes tonight at a special "After-Five Walk." It appears that Nate and Amanda were using the computers at Media Bridges and after the CincyTomorrow event there ended the word was passed in the building that they had a bunch of food left over and the first people to partake were Nate and Amanda. Doesn't that violate the boycott? Doesn't eating the "white man's" food somehow taint Nate? Is Kabaka Oba going to have to "purify" Nate from the "devil's" food?